Syria reports Israeli attacks near southern border

Israeli army says doesn't respond to foreign reports on attacks in Syria ■ Report comes days after Russia warned Israel to stop conducting airstrikes in Syria

Jack Khoury, Yaniv Kubovich, Reuters |
Feb. 11, 2019 | 8:41 PM

Israeli tank shells hit a demolished hospital and an observation post in Syria's southern Quneitra province near the border with Israel, Syrian state media reported on Monday evening, adding there had been only material damage.

In response, the Israeli military said it does not react to foreign reports on attacks in Syria.

The report came after Russia warned Israel on Friday that it must stop conducting air strikes in Syria, according to the Russian news outlet Sputnik News.

"With regard to the latest Israeli attacks, we said that such arbitrary attacks on sovereign Syrian territory should be stopped and excluded," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said, Sputnik reported.

"Any strikes destabilize the situation even more. No one should conduct actions in Syria that go beyond the scope of antiterrorist objectives."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 in Moscow following brief talks that took place at the Paris Peace Forum in November, as well as a series of phone calls between the two leaders.

The meeting comes after tensions between the two countries rose in recent weeks following Israeli airstrikes on Damascus Airport last month. Twenty-one people were killed in the extensive strike, according to a war watchdog. At least 12 of them were members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The airstrike destroyed Russian military infrastrucure, including SA2, SA3, SA17 air-defense systems, an SA22 TELAR, and a J27 Radar.

After the strike, Moscow warned against "arbitrary" airstrikes in Syria. "We should never allow Syria, which has suffered years of armed conflict, to be turned into an arena where geopolitical scores are settled," added Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.